


Caught

by Allerleirauh



Category: Sapphire and Steel
Genre: Community: kink_bingo, F/M, Ficlet, Mind Games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-23
Updated: 2012-09-23
Packaged: 2017-11-14 21:07:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/519516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allerleirauh/pseuds/Allerleirauh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Sapphire sleeps it's the perfect time to slip inside of her unconscious mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Caught

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: sleepy/unconscious

Steel loves to watch Sapphire sleep. He loves it for a whole multitude of reasons. Some of them he has, at one point or another, even told her - those are the safe ones. Yet there is one he'd never, ever tell her. When Sapphire sleeps, it's the perfect time to slip inside of her unconscious mind. She would be shocked if she ever finds out. So, it's a guilty pleasure, but one that is simply irresistible. The opportunities are rare as well as the risk is high. Yet he does it again and again.

They rarely speak of the differences between them when they are using their human forms. He doesn't drink, eat, or sleep while she does all of these. He has chastised her about this behaviour more than once. It's a form of function - the human form. The fact that they do share physical intimacies while using it is something he does his best to forget in those circumstances. She reminds him - of course she reminds him. It doesn't matter, though.

What matters is what he's doing right now. Slowly pushing inside her mind, he enters her world, the most intimate of places. The thrill is as high as always. It leaves him slightly breathless, his mind and body tingling. It's a siren's call, and, in succumbing to it, he's a willing victim.

The shapes of her mind's world differ. Sometimes he finds himself on a plain or in a valley, sometimes it's a place they have visited recently. This time it's a maze - a hedge-maze to be more precise. For a second he feels insecure. This is different. There's one constant he's come to associate with Sapphire's mind. More often than not its representation depicts the same openness, the rejection of boundaries that defines Sapphire as an Element. A maze, however, is anything but open. It's a place to lose oneself in, isn't it?

He considers, then huffs and enters.

The first passage is unremarkable, but after rounding a corner he pulls up short at the sight of Lead, standing in the middle of the way, arms crossed in front of his chest. Steel is startled and at the same time elated. This is new, too. Seeing their fellow Elements without any context - that has never happened before.

"Hello Steel." Lead says. "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here."

 _He interacts? This is even better_ , Steel thinks. He moves closer, peers up at Lead's towering form.

"Who are you? he asks.

"Come on, Steel, don't play the fool. You know perfectly well who I am. I tell you once more. You're not supposed to be here."

A bit single-minded, but in truth that's not too far away from the original. Steel carefully steps around the giant. He follows a couple of passages. He wonders why there are no memories present. It's what he normally comes for, to see Sapphire's memories, to pry on her view of events. While he's been there with her most of the time, seeing them through Sapphire's eyes holds a very unique flavour. They are associated with emotions now, and sharing her experience moves him in a way he can't comprehend. He craves it though, and he's disappointed to see only empty passages and aisles surrounding him. Rounding another corner, he comes up to someone new.

It's Silver. He's leaning against a hedge, which shouldn't be physically possible, but he does it anyway.

"Are you going to tell me I'm not supposed to be here, too, Silver?"

A chuckle. "Oh, I don't know, old chap. Why should I do something like that? I'm sure you know that all by yourself."

Silver smiles at him brilliantly. He steps away from the hedge and comes toward Steel. Then he does the most inexplicable thing. He stops right in front of Steel, standing very close. Leaning forward he drops a quick kiss on Steel's nose-tip, who just stands there completely baffled. Steel frowns and Silver chuckles again.

"Come on, Steel, run along, find the maze's centre. It's what you've been looking for all the time, isn't it?" Silver teases.

Suddenly Steel thinks he understands. Suddenly everything makes sense. Yes, this is what he's been looking for, every time he entered Sapphire's mind. He is looking for the centre - he is looking for her heart and soul. And, of course, he's hoping to find himself there, he suddenly realises.

Another dawning suspicion he pushes away. It is such a tiny thought that clamours inside his own mind. Isn't it a bit too convenient that her mind presents itself as a maze to him? He ignores it, hastening his steps.

 

One last corner and he stands in the maze's centre. He looks around, looks down. Suddenly he feels crestfallen. There's nothing here, nothing at all. He doesn't understand it, until that little suspicious thought creeps back to the forefront of his mind. Suddenly he feels chilled to the bone.

Very slowly he turns his eyes to the sky overhead - the blue sky - the blue sky that is filled by a pair of amazingly blue eyes.

"Caught you," Sapphire's voice isn't more than a soft whisper in his mind. But the whisper holds both condemnation and amusement and it frightens him like nothing ever has. Then he falls, falls into blueness, falls for an eternity and he wonders if he'll ever reach the bottom.

END

 


End file.
